


More Or Less

by Chef_Geekier



Series: Pack of Losers [4]
Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teen Wolf (TV) Fusion, BAMF Cougar, BAMF Jensen, Confused Cougar, F/M, Female Jensen, Flirty Cougar, Getting Together, Grey-Asexual Jensen, Werewolf Cougar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-12 09:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13544034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chef_Geekier/pseuds/Chef_Geekier
Summary: "We were assigned to work together, Cougar saw me and went 'I want one' and did that thing that usually makes women throw their panties at him and was rather put out when I laughed. We finished the mission, then over the next few realised that we work really well together. So we talked about me being ace and him being a wolf, sorted out The Agreement, then went to get our tatts."Cougar remembers things going a little differently.(Or: How Cougar and Jensen got together, as told by a frustrated Cougar.)





	1. "I want one."

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: Jensen's attitude towards Cougar in this is much like me - I'm grey-ace and pretty oblivious when it comes to social interactions. Looking back, there have been plenty of times when a guy has flirted with me and I've just not picked up on it at all. I may have been on dates without realising that's what was going on. It's so much fun writing from a confused and pining Cougar's perspective! 'But /why/ isn't she jumping me? I'm here and doing the sexy thing! Should I take my shirt off? Would that help?' Poor baby.
> 
> Also, I have no idea how military life works. This is probably painfully obvious to anyone even vaguely military-related. Sorry for butchering reality.

As far as Cougar was concerned, life right now was perfect. It was a warm Tuesday afternoon, they were at the den, none of the pack were injured or missing, and he was indulging in his favourite activity. Cougar was sprawled on the ground next to where Jensen leaned against a tree with his head in her lap, sun falling on his legs and belly, dozing while Jensen occasionally played with his hair for a bit. Sometimes she'd reach down and stroke his chest (he'd abandoned his shirt for this very reason), but generally stuck to his head. This was fine with him. With her other hand Jensen was playing something on her phone, the tree above providing enough shade to prevent her from burning. It was perfect.

"That's fucking adorable," Roque piped up from several feet away. "Stop it."

"Leave 'em alone," Pooch sounded like he was rolling his eyes. He was the romantic of the group. "We'll have a new mission soon enough, let us all relax while we can."

"If Cougar gets any more relaxed he'll be a puddle."

"Yup," Jensen called back. "This is the real reason he's called Cougar: because he really is an enormous cat. A patch of sunlight to nap in, some skin-to-skin contact and some ear skritches and he'll purr." Just then she did scratch at his favourite place, and Cougar couldn't be bothered fighting the pleased rumble. He knew the others were laughing at him, but it didn't matter.

"That's it," Pooch was damn near giggling, "I'm never gonna find him intimidating again."

"Please, he's never been intimidating," Jensen waved her hand. Cougar growled lowly until she put it back in his hair, and made a content noise when she did.

There was a muffled 'fwump' sound, and when Cougar cracked open an eye he saw Pooch sitting on Jensen's other side. That was fine, so he closed his eyes again.

"You've never been intimidated by him?"

"Nope," Jensen shrugged. "At sixteen I stared at a feral alpha across his victim and made him stand down. Like Cougar could scare me after that. He's got too much self-control to hurt me unintentionally, and I've never given him a reason to intentionally either."

After a few beats, Pooch changed the subject slightly.

"I'm curious. How did you two get together?"

"Easily," Jensen responded. "We were assigned to work together, Cougar saw me and went 'I want one' and did that thing that usually makes women throw their panties at him and was rather put out when I laughed. We finished the mission, then over the next few realised that we work really well together. So we talked about me being ace and him being a wolf, sorted out The Agreement, then went to get our tatts."

Cougar opened his eyes and met Jensen's gaze, raising a skeptical eyebrow. That wasn't quite how _he_ remembered it going.

"Easy as that, huh?" Pooch was back to sounding amused.

"More or less," Jensen grinned.

~*~

As a sniper, Cougar was used to floating around the various teams or being sent off on solo missions. That's just how things were. He was on friendly enough terms with those he'd worked with. If his wolf became more melancholy each time he had to leave a team ( _packpacklonelypack_ ), well, it was just silly instincts. He was fine.

His latest assignment was unlikely to be much different. A tech was being sent somewhere to update something, and he was being sent along to make sure they survived. He wasn't given the details on the tech's job, and he didn't ask. He barely looked at the information about the techie, just glanced at the name - M. Jensen - and noted that they'd meet when Jensen arrived on base.

It wasn't the first time Cougar had provided protection for someone, and he knew he was good at it. He took it as a personal slight if his ward was injured on his watch. He'd even worked with soldiers from Comm/Tech before. They were usually competent enough - they were still soldiers, even if they were geeks - but generally preferred _not_ being in the line of fire. All of which meant that Cougar wasn't expecting much from Corporal Jensen.

That changed when he laid eyes on her. Tall, muscular, short dark blonde hair, round tinted glasses... the woman looked like she could comfortably bench-press him, not someone who needed a babysitter. Cougar felt his inner wolf sit up and take notice - he'd always been drawn to strong, independent women. He inhaled slowly, trying to catch her scent, and had to bite his tongue to keep from panting. She smelled like a forest during a storm.

This was definitely going to be harder than he'd expected.

Then her eyes swept over him, and she broke into a grin. That actually helped to calm Cougar down and he found himself able to move again. They were on a job, he just had to remember that.

"Hey! Cougar, right? They told me to look for the hat. Or do you prefer Alvarez with strangers? I mean, we're gonna be stuck together for a week, I hope we can get comfortable with each other, but you never know when meeting someone for the first time."

The words tumbled out as though it was a race to finish speaking. Cougar blinked, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Jensen had nothing on his mother when she was determined to discover some detail about his life.

"Cougar is fine. You?"

"Awesome! Just call me Jensen, everyone does. First name's Polish, I'm yet to meet an American who can pronounce it without practicing for half an hour first. So, you know where we're going, right? This is my first visit to this base, I've mostly been kept State-side so far. Something about the military not being too fond of women in active combat zones. But don't worry, I did a full tour before I transferred to Comm/Tech."

Cougar nodded to the middle part of Jensen's rant, and indicated toward the jeep he'd already checked out.

"Right, strong silent type. Uh, just tell me if I'm bugging you, okay? I know that there's a couple bets going on how long before you shoot me or gag me, but I am actually capable of applying a filter if I have to. It's just easier for me to concentrate if I talk."

"You need me to talk back?" Cougar asked, curious. Jensen shook her head, looking cautious. "Then chatter away." It earned him a beaming grin, and he was surprised by how easy it apparently was to make this woman happy. It would be a pleasant change to work with someone so cheerful.

"Man, I hope you're not gonna regret that," Jensen started happily. "Still, all you gotta do is tell me to pipe down if you need to."

Cougar nodded. He could speak up if she was actually annoying him during the mission.

~*~

He never told her to stop talking. Somehow, during that first mission, Jensen's voice came to mean that everything was okay. It wasn't until the debrief that Cougar realised how attached he'd already grown.

Jensen was attractive, their personalities worked well, and she calmed his wolf down with no effort at all. It really only made sense that he try to prolong their association.

Finding Jensen on base was simple. She'd claimed a corner for herself in the building that housed most of the communications equipment and personnel, and was usually there if she wasn't eating or sleeping. Cougar waited until the area was relatively deserted and nonchalantly wandered over to perch on the edge of Jensen's desk, hands in his pockets.

"Huh? Oh, Cougs, hey! You get sick of the quiet or something?" Cougar shook his head, allowing a grin. "Nah, didn't think so. Y'know, I totally cleaned up on the bets, so thanks again for not shooting me. Or letting me get shot."

Cougar scoffed and rolled his eyes. Jensen had handled herself just fine, she hadn't needed him to protect her. To be honest, she probably didn't need an escort at all, but having an extra set of eyes to keep watch was always helpful.

"I know, I'm awesome. Hey, hand me the tiny screwdrivers? Since you're basically sitting on them," she looked pointedly at - huh, she was right, there was a case of small screwdrivers. He handed them over, making sure to brush Jensen's fingers when he did.

She didn't even twitch.

This was odd. Usually by now a woman would, at the very least, be giving him their full attention. Jensen, however, had started to chatter about her current pet project. She hadn't even tried to grab the case herself and pass off a feel as her hand slipping.

Deciding to up his game, Cougar flicked his hat back a little so she could see his face better, then seated himself properly on the table. Sprawling a little, he rested his weight on one hand close to Jensen's arm so that he was near her personal bubble. He tried not to over-shoot and make her uncomfortable, but she hadn't seemed to have much concept of personal space while they'd been working. This particular move had gotten him laid at least five times.

Jensen, however, just kept working around him. She even flicked his arm at one point when she needed something he was blocking. It was baffling. A subtle inhale told him that she was happy to have him there, but there was no arousal, no lingering looks, no not-so-casual touches. Cougar frowned, and that caught Jensen's attention.

"Hey, what's with the grumpy face? You get another mission already? I thought we were meant to get a few days rest, but brass always have their own ideas."

Cougar huffed and shook his head. He thought he could see one of the other techs laughing at him, and glared.

"Did you get assigned a new techie?" Jensen was frowning now too, and Cougar didn't like that expression - though he did like the territoriality it implied. "That was quick. I thought we worked well together, thought  we might get to stick around for a while."

"You would be willing?" Cougar was surprised into asking. Jensen grinned at him.

"Hell yeah! You're not a condescending dickhead, do you know how rare that is? And you trust me to know my own limits. Not to mention you don't seem to care if I talk your ear off. I'd definitely be willing to keep working with you."

Cougar returned the smile. That was good. If he could keep Jensen as his partner ( _packpackmine!_ ) then that was clearly the best possible outcome. Despite what some people thought, he didn't _need_ to have sex with every woman he saw.

If he _wanted_ to have sex with Jensen, well... he could ignore it. Cougar was more than his instincts. They would be working together. That was plenty.

"I'll put in a request," he assured Jensen, who did an enthusiastic double fist-pump.

"Boo-ya! Cougar and Jensen, team Awesome!"

Dammit. Could she stop being adorable for ten minutes please?


	2. "But why isn't she jumping me?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jensen gets hit with a clue-by-four - and still manages to surprise Cougar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but they get a necessary conversation out of the way.

Part of Cougar had been wondering if his and Jensen's ability to work together was just a fluke, something that happened by chance and couldn't be repeated. When they finished their next mission in three days - half of the time they'd been allocated - he stopped worrying.

Working with Jensen was easy. Cougar acknowledged that he was still attracted to her, but that it was better to not act on it. Best to not disrupt what was quickly becoming his most stable team assignment in years.

With some free time on their hands, having to wait for a flight back, they checked into a hotel and went in search of a bar. They found one a short walk from the hotel, and settled in. Jensen was chattering about the differences between wine and brandy - while drinking beer - and Cougar nodded along, commenting whenever he felt like it. It was refreshing to have the option, to not be guilted into talking or too uncomfortable to break his silence.

As much fun as he was having though, there was another urge building. While Jensen was grabbing the next round, Cougar decided to do something about picking up a one night stand. There was a pretty little brunette at the bar who'd been eying him for a while now, and she looked just his type.

Cougar noticed when Jensen came back, of course, but his attention was split. Jensen seemed to pick up on where he was looking and grinned at him.

"Go on, do your thing. I can get back to my room on my own. Meet you for breakfast?"

Cougar nodded and tipped his hat in thanks. Jensen laughed at him and pulled out her phone - she had her technology, she'd be happy.

Leaning on the bar and chatting smoothly to the pretty lady, Cougar felt his confidence being restored. This woman was definitely interested. When they left together shortly after, Cougar met Jensen's eyes and saw her surprised look. With a head tilt he asked if she was okay, and she waved him off. It couldn't be too important then.

"Friend of yours?" Maria asked, borderline jealous.

"Co worker," Cougar shrugged, and gave her his attention again. Her scent immediately mellowed, and Cougar put it out of his mind.

~*~

The next morning Cougar kissed Maria goodbye and went to find Jensen. He could hear her in her hotel room, and knocked. He wasn't expecting the first words she said to him when she opened the door to be "You were flirting with me, weren't you?"

Blinking in surprise, Cougar nodded slowly.

"After our first mission, yes. You didn't seem interested, so I stopped. I do not want to make you uncomfortable."

"Huh," Jensen sounded confused. They stood looking at each other for a moment, before Jensen stepped back. "You should come in, I think we need to clarify a couple of things."

Okay, clarify was good. It wasn't 'I'm uncomfortable and don't trust you', it meant that they could probably keep working together. As long as he didn't fuck up the talking thing that is; words had never been his strong point.

They both sat at the tiny table, and for once Jensen seemed lost for words. Cougar tried an encouraging smile, and although she still smelled nervous it seemed to loosen her speech again.

"Okay, so, I really don't notice when people flirty with me. Never have. Probably because I, uh..." she trailed off again. Cougar waited, letting Jensen build up her courage. "I'mgreyace," she finally blurted, all in one word.

It took a few seconds for Cougar to parse what she'd said, and then realised that it actually made sense. He'd never smelled arousal or attraction on her, and sex scents were pretty hard to mask.

"Ace is asexual?" He asked, wanting to be sure. "You do not feel desire?"

Seeing that Cougar was staying calm, Jensen relaxed muscle by muscle.

"Close," she nodded. "I'm grey-ace. Means that it's really rare for me to want sex with someone. Like, once or twice a year rare. I do have a libido, even if it's pretty low, but usually I don't like involving other people. I prefer seeing to myself."

"I think I understand," Cougar nodded. It was certainly different to what he experienced, but he'd been raised to respect other peoples' boundaries. If that was what worked for Jensen, then he had no business trying to change her.

"...You're not gonna get weird about it?" She asked, apparently expecting a more volatile reaction. Cougar suddenly wondered how other people had reacted in the past, for her to be so worried about telling him.

"No," he shook his head in emphasis. "We work together. We are friends. That is more important."

"Huh," Jensen blinked, nodded, then broke into a wide grin. "Cool."

Cougar relaxed - this was more like it. Jensen wasn't meant to be sad or defeated, she was meant to be cheerful and smiling. Possibly vengeful - Cougar could imagine her wearing that well - but never depressed.

(It wasn't until months later that Cougar realised how much value he placed on Jensen's happiness. By then he was already gone on her.)

"So, with that out of the way," Jensen looked positively gleeful, and Cougar braced himself for whatever she'd thought of next, "should we talk about the fact that you're a werewolf?"

...

Wait, what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm also working on a longer BDSM fic in which there is no penetrative sex. Why? Because fuck it. Apparently Cougar likes subspace because his ghosts don't follow him there, and Jensen gets off on taking care of him. *shrugs* I like Jensen as a competent Dom.


	3. The Werewolf Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They discuss the werewolf thing, their pasts, and Cougar reaches a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This kinda came out of nowhere? But here, have Jensen and Cougar backstories.
> 
> The incident Jensen talks about didn't happen in Teen Wolf canon, but it could easily have. I didn't watch past season 3a, so I didn't go into detail. Allison's life direction took me by surprise, but I like it. She probably gets help from Lydia and Jensen.
> 
> I wanted Cougar on good terms with his family but without a werewolf pack. This is my compromise for that. And let's face it, TW isn't particularly consistent with its lore so there's plenty of room for me to mess around.
> 
> I'll happily expand on Cougar's backstory later if people want, but for now he's still fairly reluctant to talk about the details.
> 
> And yes, I have decided on their college degrees. Jensen has a total of three undergrad degrees, Cougar has a Masters, and exactly what they all are will come up in another planned fic.

Jensen shrugged as Cougar continued to stare at her.

"The hearing and sniffing really aren't as subtle as you think they are, especially to someone already in the know. And I'm pretty sure I saw your eyes a couple times. Never for long, you have amazing control, but it was enough to tip me off."

Cougar inhaled gently, and still found no trace of aggression or fear on her. He'd never been found out before, and wasn't sure what to do.

"You... know of werewolves. You have a pack?"

"No," Jensen looked uncomfortable, and Cougar didn't need to try to pick up the scent of grief. "I could have, once, but I didn't really fit. I'm human, and at best I was a friend of several pack members."

Something about the mix of words and scent tickled at Cougar's protective instincts, and he didn't try to stamp them down.

"At worst?"

"At worst..." Jensen quirked a self-deprecating grin. "At worst I was an expendable resource."

The rage took Cougar by surprise with its intensity, and he knew his eyes were glowing electric blue. If he ever met this previous pack, he was bringing his rifle.

"You are not expendable," Cougar growled. Jensen raised an eyebrow, but Cougar shook his head as he forced the change back. He was still in control, just rather pissed off. "True friends are never to be tossed aside. They are to be kept close."

"Well, we were teenagers," Jensen shrugged. "We were all figuring out who we were, and I grew in a direction that didn't fit with how the rest of the pack was growing. Mostly. I still keep in touch with a few of them. I just... my morals have always been more flexible, and I finally crossed a line that most of them couldn't forgive."

"What happened?" Cougar couldn't imagine Jensen doing something so terrible that he couldn't forgive her, but he had to remind himself that he was a soldier. His views were probably rather different form a group of teens.

"I killed someone," Jensen admitted. Cougar gave her a 'so?' eyebrow, and she grinned, clearly amused. "See that? That's how Peter and Chris reacted, which is why I'm still friends with them. This dude was a hunter, and he hurt me and another pack member. We were seventeen, and he would have killed us if we hadn't gotten away from him. Once I was ready, and knew that no one else was going to fix things, I went back and bashed his head in with a baseball bat."

Okay, that was a little violent, but Cougar could see where Jensen was coming from. She was hurt and trying to protect herself.

"Apparently I over-reacted. The rest of the pack were scared of me, and the guy who had been my best friend, my brother... he condemned me for it. Said we should have talked to the hunter, somehow convinced him to change his ways and let him go."

Cougar scoffed. Like _that_ was in any way likely. He'd managed to mostly avoid hunters by hiding in the army, but he'd seen enough of the dark side of humanity to know that once someone was actively trying to kill teenagers, there was very little that could change them. A polite request from one of their potential victims wasn't going to cut it.

"Exactly," Jensen grinned, picking up all of his thoughts in the simple reaction. "We had a huge argument about letting enemies go as opposed to killing them, which had been building for a while. It ended with Peter and me being thrown out of the pack. I mean, he'd been on the edges for a long time, so he wasn't surprised. Chris had never completely integrated with the pack, he'd been raised a hunter, so when his daughter left the pack to go to college he walked away as well and followed Peter. Allison never went back to Beacon Hills. She actually works with other werewolf packs now to try and mitigate some of the damage hunters do. When hunters cross the line and target innocents, she finds a way to get them in trouble with the law _without_ exposing werewolves."

Cougar could have been distracted by that, but something else was niggling at him. Jensen's grief had been too strong to just account for losing friends, no matter how close they'd been.

"What happened to you?" He asked. For a moment Jensen paused, then deflated.

"My father found out that I'd killed someone. He was the sheriff, and we'd been having problems for years at that point. He'd kept trying to make me leave my friends before something bad happened, and then I went and committed murder. It was the last straw, I guess. He told me that I had twenty-four hours to leave town, or he'd arrest me."

Cougar felt cold. How many stories did he know that started like that, and ended in abuse, addiction or death?

"I left," Jensen summed up what had to have been a painful decision. "Lived in my car for a few weeks, then Peter tracked me down and dragged me to his place. I stayed with him - and Chris when he showed up - until I was eighteen, then I changed my surname to my mom's maiden name and enlisted. The army put me through college - twice - and here I am. Things turned out okay in the end, I just had to slog through a lot of shit to get here."

Jensen's smile was pretty convincing. Cougar still wanted to hold her close, rub his scent on her and protect her from anyone who so much as looked at her wrong.

"Anyway, what about you? You have a pack you go back to on leave?"

"No," Cougar shook his head. "My family are human. I was bitten when I was getting my Masters degree. I was attacked, and the local alpha saved my life. His pack taught me control, helped me to adjust, but I never felt as one of them. They suggested the army as a substitute until I could find a pack that I fit with, and I found that I like it. The army is my pack. I have never told my family."

Jensen nodded. She seemed to be filling in the details by herself, and Cougar knew she would be close if not completely right in her conclusions.

"So," Jensen mused, "you have excellent control and I already know about a lot of the supernatural stuff. This is awesome! Feel free to use your abilities around me, shift or whatever you need. I know Peter always gets antsy if he has to play human for too long."

Cougar grinned and flashed his eyes at her, making Jensen grin back. This was definitely going to be his favourite team assignment. He and his wolf were in perfect agreement - they were going to keep Jensen for as long as they could.

~*~

The next month flew past. With Cougar able to use his abilities to their fullest and Jensen able to cover for him and trusting him completely, they both worked better than ever before. The assignments came thick and fast, as though their superiors thought that this was a fluke and wanted to get as much use out of them as possible before their partnership collapsed.

Moving around so much didn't bother them. Cougar had never formed strong friendships within the military, always keeping part of himself hidden as he had. Now that he was being more objective, he could also see that while Jensen was friendly with everyone, she had an intensity that could certainly be off-putting. So they stuck together, during missions and during their brief periods of downtime, and they just kept working almost disturbingly well together.

With their two biggest secrets out in the open, Cougar found that other secrets flowed easily as well. Before he realised it, Jensen knew him better than anyone else ever had before. It seemed natural to tell her whatever he was thinking about, and Jensen's chatter contained more personal information as well.

Which was why Cougar barely twitched when Jensen started prowling around their current safehouse as though she was the wolf. He knew she would tell him what was wrong before long. She was muttering random annoyances, possibly not even realising that Cougar was paying attention, before he finally picked up on what seemed to be the core issue.

"I miss cuddle time. Is it too much to ask for non-sexual contact? But no, every guy out there decides that a cuddle is an invitation to kiss and then itt's touching more and then it's sex and it's frustrating when I just want a fucking cuddle! Or a non-fucking cuddle."

Cougar considered, then decided that she was right. By avoiding sexual situations, Jensen lost out on a lot of the casual contact between people. Cougar could go out and have a fling if he wanted touch, but Jensen had to be a lot more careful. That didn't mean that she had to be completely cut off, though.

The next time Jensen passed near where Cougar was stretched out on the bed reading, he opened his arms in a clear invitation. He still had his book in his hand, in an effort to reassure Jensen that he was offering purely platonic contact. When she stopped and blinked at him, Cougar raised an eyebrow.

"Nap time," he told her. Jensen broke into a smile and flopped down next to him, before crawling into his arms. It didn't take much rearranging before they were both comfortable. Jensen was taller, broader, but she was also a comforting weight pressed against him. Her head was tucked under his chin, one hand curling softly on his chest and holding onto his shirt. One of Cougar's hands rested on her arm, gently stroking and soothing, while the other held his book against his raised knee.

It was a position that could easily lead to arousal, but Cougar found that the idea was less appealing than usual. Jensen fell asleep easily, and Cougar wanted nothing more than to let her stay, safe and peaceful, content and unthreatened by anything.

Both had trouble with insomnia, so Cougar let Jensen sleep as long as she needed. He finished his book and let it fall to the bed, and just concentrated on the feeling of peace washing over him. He'd never had a pack, never felt a supposedly all-consuming mate bond, but there was a flicker along the back of his mind that he knew could grow into a pack bond.

No, not _could_. Jensen _was_ pack, and Cougar... Cougar loved her. He held her, stroked her arm, and wondered. Could he do this? Could he be content with just her presence and holding her, nothing more?

Jensen shifted in her sleep and Cougar immediately soothed her, tightening his hold and burying his nose in her hair.

Yes, he decided, and relaxed as he knew it was truth. They would need to talk about it, as Jensen talked about everything, but they would be fine. Cougar didn't need more from Jensen than this.

Cougar felt his own pulse and breathing start to slow, and smiled as he let sleep take him as well. This was pack, this was _mate_ , this was enough.


	4. "Boo? Snuggle-buddy? Occasional sex god?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cougar and Jensen have differing opinions on what their relationship is. It doesn't take much to establish their boundaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's, bitches. All aboard the fluff express.
> 
> Just as an interesting note, I hand-write almost all my stories before I post them. This verse is now 57 written pages long, more than half a notebook.
> 
> When I die, someone's gonna go through all my notebooks and be very confused - unless my housemate gets to them first. He knows what a weirdo I am, since I bounce plot ideas off him even when he has no clue about the fandoms.

Despite his new resolution, Cougar didn't talk to Jensen about changing their relationship right away. First he wanted to see whether he could abstain from sex completely, or if it was something he needed to be happy. It was looking more and more like the latter, and he didn't want to put that sort of pressure on Jensen.

Of course, Jensen figured out pretty quickly that something was bothering him, but she let him mull it over for a while. She had her own issues to work on - they were both frustrated by the quality of their army-issue earbuds, and Jensen was trying to improve them. She spent a lot of time off-mission muttering and pulling things apart, and Cougar had very quickly grown accustomed to the smell of the soldering iron and burning plastic. He frequently had to remind Jensen to eat, and more than once he physically carried her to the bed to enforce nap-time when she started to vibrate from caffeine overload.

The fact that they both slept soundly and deeply when cuddled together didn't escape either one's attention.

Finally, after a week in the jungle living in each other's pockets, it was time to talk about it. At this point they'd gotten used to sitting pressed against each other, sometimes with their ankles hooked together, sometimes with Cougar's arm around Jensen. Cougar had come to realise that Jensen had been borderline touch-starved, and had taken it upon himself to fix things. Now she was perfectly comfortable with their near constant casual touches.

"C'mon Cougs," Jensen nudged him with her elbow. "Háblame, amigo."

"Your accent is awful," Cougar felt compelled to tell her. She stuck her tongue out in a very mature response.

"So I'm better at Slavic languages. Whatever. I don't think it's my accent that you've been pondering lately."

Cougar shook his head. He considered distracting Jensen with something else, but decided that it would be easier to just come out with it. At least then they could move on.

"I care for you a great deal," he spoke softly, trying to ensure that Jensen took him seriously. "I don't think I can give up sex. I don't know how to reconcile these two facts."

Jensen was silent for a moment, though her scent told Cougar that she was happy with the first declaration.

"Dude," she found her voice again. Nothing could keep Jensen silent for long. "You do know that everyone who sees us together already assumes we're in a relationship, right?" She ducked under Cougar's hat to kiss his cheek. "I'm pretty sure the brass don't say anything because we work so well together and they don't wan to jeopardise that. People in general don't say anything to _you_ because they think you're a scaaaaary sniper." Her tone of voice showed what she thought about that assumption. "I get a few comments, but most people know that if I don't want to answer something I'll just drown them in bullshit."

On reflection, Cougar had to admit that she was right. It was part of why he wanted a relationship with Jensen - one that he was apparently already in - because it was easy with her.

"That doesn't change my want for sex," he pointed out. "I don't want to pressure you. If you don't want sex, then it would be no good for either of us."

"I know," Jensen reassured him, taking his hand in hers. It was more blatantly romantic than their previous touches, and still felt natural. This was what he wanted to share with Jensen. "We'll obviously have to set up boundaries, but... you've had sex with other women in the last couple of months. Who says you can't keep doing that? Just, don't tell me the details."

"You would not be jealous?" That had been a problem in previous relationships he'd tried - Cougar was a natural flirt, and his girlfriends really hadn't appreciated it when he appeared to be flirting with anyone else.

"I don't know," Jensen shrugged. "I think I'm okay with it? I promise to talk to you first if I do get jealous." She paused. "Also, if I do want sex I'll come to you. Or, y'know, get you to make me come."

Cougar winced at the wordplay, even as Jensen snickered.

"So... we're okay, right?"

Cougar nodded, and kissed her cheek. It made Jensen smile wider, and that was really the point.

"Great. Now, boundaries. Um..."

"Kisses?" Cougar asked. She seemed to be okay with them so far.

"Closed-mouthed is fine," Jensen confirmed. "Tongues and slobber not so much. Sharing spit is gross, I really don't understand how anyone can like that, and if you stick your tongue in my mouth I might actually be sick."

"All right," Cougar nodded. It was a shame - he liked deep and messy kisses - but something he could deal with. "Can I kiss other women?"

"Sure. Actually, please do," Jensen looked (and smelled) relieved. "Even if I'm not in the mood myself, I might wanna watch that sometimes. You're very pretty, after all."

"Can I lick you elsewhere?" Cougar asked, putting that comment aside for now. He wasn't sure how he felt about exhibitionism just yet. Jensen paused, but clearly wasn't immediately disgusted.

"Example?" She asked.

In response, Cougar leaned in and ran his nose up and down Jensen's neck, nuzzling closer as she seemed content. He gave her quick little licks which garnered no particular response, but made his wolf side feel better. The whole time he kept holding her hand, not touching anywhere else. Since Jensen seemed willing to test where her comfort zone lay, he started to place light, open-mouthed kisses on her neck - and immediately withdrew as her body became a mess of mixed signals.

Cougar sat back, keeping his hold on her hand gentle, and let Jensen decide how to react.

"Okay," she breathed out after a moment. "The nuzzling thing, that was great. I like that. That's good whenever you want. The licking, eh. DIdn't bother me, didn't really do anything for me either. So that's an 'ask first, probably okay' thing." Cougar nodded. Easy enough. "The other kisses... when I'm in a sexual mood, yes. Definite yes. When I'm not, it's... it's too much, I can't-"

"That's fine," Cougar spoke over Jensen before she could get wound up. "Now we know. I will ask in future."

"Yeah," Jensen relaxed again. "Yeah, asking's always allowed. I'll never get annoyed at you for asking."

They sat in silence for a while, before it was broken by Jensen - to no one's surprise.

"Y'know, you're actually really good at this communication thing, especially for someone most people think is a functioning mute."

"You make it easy," Cougar shrugged. "I can see where my words fit around yours. And I do not want to hurt you. If we talk now, there is less chance of hurting you later."

"I guess," Jensen accepted the explanation. "Words are kinda my specialty. Even with all your extra senses, I still need everything in human-talk."

Cougar nodded. Anything else was cut off as his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was time to go talk to their current handler about the next assignment.

"Urgh," Jensen grumbled as Cougar tugged her to her feet. "When do we get some time off?"

"Soon," Cougar reassured her, then leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. Jensen grinned dopily at him, which reassured him that it had been okay.

"Wait, so I get sweet kisses before mission briefings now?" She looked quite happy at the prospect.

"You get sweet kisses whenever you want."

"Awesome!" Jensen returned the kiss and started walking off. Cougar gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her to walk in the right direction. "Oh, yeah, thanks. So after the next mission I gotta call Peter and tell him I've got a boyfriend now. This'll be fun!"

Cougar raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

"Don't worry, he trusts my judgement. And he'll only psychologically torture you if you get me killed. Chris is the one who'll kill you if I ask him to. But they're mostly too occupied with Beth to take on any extra projects."

Somehow that wasn't as comforting as Jensen had (possibly) meant it to be. Then his mind picked up on what she'd called him.

"Boyfriend?"

"Boo?" She suggested instead. "Snuggle-buddy? Occasional sex god? Yeah, I've heard the rumours, I expect serious orgasms when we eventually get down 'n' dirty."

For the sake of his sanity, Cougar decided to ignore most of that. It was a fairly common decision.

"Mate."

There was silence for a few steps.

"Mates are serious business," Jensen said softly, like she was compelled to point it out but at the same time didn't want Cougar to hear and take it back. He smiled.

"I am serious about you."

More silence as Jensen considered it.

"Mates, then. Mates is good."

"Yeah. Mates was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting close to finishing this one. If you have anything you want to see in this verse, anywhere up to the movie timeline, let me know! I'm always happy to take requests.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments = love. I thrive on feedback.


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